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Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti was all praise for striker Karim Benzema after the Frenchman's brilliant performance against Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday. He admitted that the 34-year-old striker has aged "like a fine wine."
Benzema scored a stunning hat-trick against the Blues in their 3-1 win in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals at Stamford Bridge. A first-half brace of headers followed by a second-half goal completed the Frenchman's second hat-trick in two games in the competition.
He became only the second player to score consecutive hat-tricks in the competition, joining Cristiano Ronaldo.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Ancelotti said (via Marca):
"Every day is better, like a fine wine. Every day he has more leadership, he feels more important in this team and this is what makes the difference. He has much more personality. He knows he is a very important player. He has exemplary behavior for everyone."
With the hat-trick against Chelsea, the French striker has reached 82 goals in Champions League history. He is now the fourth player to do so behind Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski.
He also became the first French player to score 10+ goals in a single UCL season.
Chelsea will need to bounce back quickly from this week if they are to beat Karim Benzema-led Real Madrid
It has been a tough week for the West London side. They were first beaten 4-1 at Stamford Bridge by Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday, April 2.
They have now lost 3-1 against Los Blancos and could be eliminated from the Champions League soon.
Chelsea created more chances in the game (20) than Real Madrid (8) but were unable to cash in on them. Kai Havertz's first-half goal did seem to bring them back into the game.
However, an error between Edouard Mendy and Antonio Rudiger gave Benzema the hat-trick and Madrid the win.
Chelsea will now travel to St. Mary's Stadium to face Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday. They will then hope to make a comeback when they face Real Madrid in the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu next Tuesday.
